


And So It Begins

by CaraLee



Series: On Dragons Wings [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dragons, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Everything Is Better With Dragons, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Gen, Here there be dragons, characters will be added in tags as they appear
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-04
Updated: 2018-11-04
Packaged: 2019-08-17 10:08:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,396
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16514312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaraLee/pseuds/CaraLee
Summary: Katie has always been aware of The War, if only in a vague sort of manner. A bunch of immortal races doing their best to wipe each other out was old news long before she was born and its impact on the human kingdoms, separated from the mainland by the Western Sea as they are, has been minimal.Sure the occasional fisherman spotted a dragon flying overhead and trade is limited to a few brave (foolhardy) merchants who dare the unsheltered waters and treacherous lands beyond.But it isn’t their war. Not a human war.Until it comes for them.





	And So It Begins

**Author's Note:**

> This is a fill for two different Voltron Bingo Prompts.  
> From my AU card, Royalty AU and from my Pidge Card, Investigate
> 
> Much thanks, as always, to my amazing beta and cheer squad, Nym_Pseudo/fandomanddenial!

It is strange, the things humans can become used to, become complacent in the face of. But in the end it is simply not possible to live every moment under the crushing weight of fear and uncertainty. Not without going mad.

And so it is that humanity carries on, not indifferent, but numb. Allowing the flow of the world to happen around them, like a rock on the seashore.

Until something happens to shift the balance.

***

Katie has always been aware of The War, if only in a vague sort of manner. A bunch of immortal races doing their best to wipe each other out was old news long before she was born and its impact on the human kingdoms, separated from the mainland by the Western Sea as they are, has been minimal.

Sure the occasional fisherman spotted a dragon flying overhead (though not in decades) and trade is limited to a few brave (foolhardy) merchants who dare the unsheltered waters and treacherous lands beyond. (Even Katie has only one scarf of Altean silk, so rare is it.)

But it isn’t  _ their _ war. Not a human war.

Until it comes for them.

Katie wakes one morning to find her mother in tears, Lord Iverson stiff-backed and stern as he informs her that her father and brother are gone, their ship taken by raiders as they journeyed back from the Island Summit. He says, voice hard and unyielding, that the ship was destroyed and all on board slain. No survivors.

No survivors.

No chance.

Katie has never been one to leave things up to chance anyway.

***

Despite her determination to recover her father and brother, it is several months before she is able to actually  _ do _ anything. Her mission made difficult both by the isolation of her home Island, and also the increase of her personal guards.

With the “death” of King Samuel and the Crown Prince Matthew, the full weight of rule has fallen not on Katie, no, but on Lord Iverson, serving as a regent until Katie is either grown or wed, her mother relegated to chatelaine at least until the end of the grieving period. In the meantime, the number of guards placed upon her has doubled, as have her lessons, as she has suddenly gone from being the (slightly spoiled) younger child to the immediate heir and only blood member of the royal line.

Katie is not a fan of this. She has always enjoyed having the freedom to do more or less as she wished, outside the necessary lessons. It gave her more opportunity to pursue spellcasting. At the age of almost-fifteen she was already the best not only on their Island, but on any of them, second only  _ perhaps _ to her mother. And she only suspects  _ that _ because the few things she has not been able to access had all been warded by her mother. Queen Colleen is not very open with her skill, which Katie thinks is a waste. What’s the point at being so good at something if you don’t use it?

But now, once her hours spent learning how to manage a royal household from her mother has passed, instead of being able to devote herself to the studies she chooses, she is now  _ also _ subjected to the in-depth studies of statecraft that up until this point, have been Matt’s problem. (And not all the information she is being given is  _ accurate _ . She knows for a fact that the reason tensions with the neighboring Island are high is because her father used to clash heads with Queen Sanda over humans role in the war, and not over fishing rights. She learned that from her lessons with her mother and from snooping through her father’s letters.)

If nothing else one of her greatest suspicions is confirmed. Her mother and half the other ladies of the court are more well-informed of the true motivations and purposes behind actions than many of the actual officials whose job it is to know those things.

There is also now a concerted effort by Lord Iverson to find her a husband, but Katie is trying not to think about that because what that means is that they are trying to find a king because they don’t think Matt is coming back. And they are  _ wrong. _ (Also, if she has to listen to one more pompous stuffed shirt extol the supposed virtues of Prince James she will punch them, consequences be damned.)

 

And yet despite her best efforts (which are very good, if she does say so herself) it is some months before she has any luck beyond overhearing a conversation between Lord Iverson and Sir Eugene that verified that something was going on and they knew it. She is sneaking her way back to her chambers, after another fruitless midnight search when she comes perilously close to stumbling into the middle of a hushed conversation between Lord Iverson and a tall figure, hooded and cloaked.   
  
Katie ducks into an alcove and traces a quick rune in the dust on the wall to enhance her hearing. 

  
“-ion must be swift.” The stranger is saying in a strange accent, his words crisp and deliberate. “The Galra do not give warnings. Having struck once they will strike again until you surrender or are destroyed.”   
  
Lord Iverson’s response is gruff and low but louder than the stranger. “It is not so simple. Humankind is not under a single ruler; we cannot enter this war without it impacting the other kingdoms. We must consult with the Kings and Queens before any action is taken.”   
  
The stranger nods sharply and brushes past Iverson, turning down a passage that leads to a small side gate that Katie and Matt used as children to sneak off and go adventuring. “The Coalition summit meets in two months. Your presence is invited, but not demanded.”   
  
Katie pulls back, hiding in the shadows as Lord Iverson stomps past her, fortunately she is on the side of his bad eye and he does not see her. She remains in her impromptu spy-hole, thinking furiously over what she has learned.    
  
The Stranger had spoken of the Coalition; the unification of free peoples in opposition to the invading Galra forces. Lead by the Altean king, The Coalition is at the forefront of resistance. It is even rumored that they shelter surviving dragons. If The Stranger is from The Coalition, then what he said about the Galra…   
  
Katie shivers, a cold streak of dread crawling down her spine and into her gut. He’d said the Galra had already attacked them. But the only attack in recent times is the one that took her father and brother. Which could only mean-She cuts that train of thought off immediately. Just because her family has potentially been taken captive by the Galra rather than by other humans or Sea Folk, doesn’t mean anything has changed. She is still going to get them back and bring them home.   
  
And the only way to do that is to get closer. Closer to the war. Closer to the Galra. She absolutely must be at that summit.   
  
***    
  
Attending the summit proves to be very complicated with many steps.   
  
First of all, Katie cannot let Lord Iverson know that she witnessed his meeting with The Coalition’s emissary. That is a good way to get herself even more heavily guarded than she currently is. (Not that all her guards are bad. She gets along pretty well with the one guy who mostly just stands silently against the wall and glares at people who interrupt her. Though she’s also pretty sure he was laughing at her that last time a charm backfired and set her desk on fire.)   
  
Second, she must ensure that Iverson and the Council of Royals decide that the Humans must be represented at the summit; without letting on that she knows about it. Somehow   
  
Third, she has to make sure that she is _ there _ .   
  
There is no way that Princess Katherine, last Blood of Holt, not yet grown, will be permitted to cross the sea for a summit with the leaders of all free peoples.   
  
So she will just have to be someone who can.   
  
A month later, when Lord Iverson and some members of the Council of Royals depart for the mainland, a small, fluffy-haired serving boy slips unnoticed into King Joaquim’s party.   



End file.
